Your OC’s Children
All credit for this goes to @antivan-sprig and their post asking about everyone's Rook + LI's children (if any)! I loved reading about Liselath's kids and everyone else's OC's kids, too! One thing led to another, and this is the result for Ember...
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OK. So, first of all, I don’t think Ember and Neve would have children in the traditional sense. They’re busy, work insane hours in dangerous jobs, and just have other priorities.
That being said, I could totally see them becoming godparents and/or de-facto guardians to some of the street kids in Dock Town many years down the road. The cool aunts (or as they get older, the "aunties"), if you will 😆
Did I just make up 3 OCs for this? You betcha. And it was a ton of fun!
Ember Mercar x Neve Gallus
Wards / Apprentices / "Well shit. I guess that's my kid now."
Picrew link | From left to right: Callie, Amir, and Sofia.
It starts off small. A street kid stops by the agency for help finding their mom. Another has information on a case and just...keeps showing up to chat. A storm hits Dock Town, so Neve and Ember invite the children with nowhere to go to join them for supper and get out of the cold...
Both Ember and Neve want the kids of Dock Town to know they have a safe place to stay and adults they can trust. Somewhere they can stop by any time for support. A hot meal. Or just because they need help on their homework. 😂 Let's face it, both Neve and Ember have a habit of picking up strays. They are such saps! 💖💖
I also didn't intend for them to all be elves (that's what the picrew had!), but I think it's actually kind of sweet 🥺
Callie: The Up-and-Coming Detective 🕵️
A long-time informant for Neve and the Shadow Dragons, this girl has a knack for being the eyes and ears of the street.
She's got all the skills of a solid con woman entrepreneur. Don't let the big blue eyes fool you - she's far more cunning (and precocious) than she looks!
She ends up apprenticing under the two detectives after she successfully bet that she could crack the case on a jewel heist that had been bothering them for days.
Ember teaches her how to pick locks and get better at making a quick getaway ("What? Don't look at me like that, Rana! These are occupational skills! I taught you how to pick this type of lock last week.")
Callie is one of the only people in Thedas to understand how Neve's "filing system" works.
She eventually becomes a partner and full-fledged detective at the agency.
Amir: The Budding Blacksmith ⚒️
This wise guy just showed up one day claiming to be Ember's squire (he read about them in a book).
Ember tried correcting him. She wasn't a Fereldan knight, and she could manage her own gear, thank you very much. But that didn't deter him. He stuck to her like a burr (and no it wasn't because of the bullies - all of whom Neve ID'd in 10 min flat - that he had to pass every day to get to school. The ones who cropped his ears. Nope. Not at all related.)
Eventually Ember agreed to train him in swordsmanship on the weekends if he agreed to stop cutting class. She may have also put on a bit of a show in full Hero of Thedas regalia to permanently scare off his bullies from messing with him.
Also, you know Ember has directed her patented Disappointed Cricket Dad look at him many a time (I had to include it😂)
Amir goes on to open up his own blacksmith and weapons shop in Dock Town. He's known throughout Minrathous for making quality blades. Ember's first question is whether she gets a discount, which earns her a slap on the shoulder from Neve lol.
Sofia: The Young Mage 🪄
This sweetie found out she was a mage when the blighted dragon attacked Minrathous. She lost her family in the fires, and she was terrified of using her elemental magic for a long time.
She often ran away from the Circle to hide out at the agency and get advice from Neve and Ember. She was scared! She was one of the only elves and Laetan students in her whole class. No one, not even her Dock Town friends, seemed to understand her now.
Neve tutors her on the side and gives her all sorts of tips on how to survive her next few years at Circle.
Ember can't offer much in terms of magical knowledge, but she's always got a big bear hug and a dad joke at the ready (Sofia shares her love of terrible puns and they get a genuine laugh out of her.)
Sofia ends up graduating with honors and goes on to be a professor specializing in ice magic, lattice/crystallization patterns, and warding (gee, I wonder who she picked that up from)
Anywhoooo's these kiddos end up inviting Ember and Neve to all the big milestone events as they age, too! Things like Sofia's graduation from the Circle, Callie's first solo case and her wedding (different events lol), the grand opening of Amir's shop, etc.
Neve gets suspiciously misty-eyed at each and every occasion. Ember is practically waving a homemade "No. 1 Fan" sign for each kid.
Other AU / Magic Neverook Kids
Ok, if Neve and Ember WERE to have any children thru some Fade or magical shenanigans, I do think it'd be hilarious to see just how SHOOK Ember would be at the news😂
Like wait, that's a thing that can happen?! Ember is soporati. No one ever taught her jack shit about the Fade!
She'd absolutely need to...like...sit down and breathe into a paper bag for a hot minute. Ember has seen a lot of wild things in her life, but this honestly might be what bluescreens her (s-she doesn't have the right hardware?? how could she get Neve pregnant? magic?? but she's not even a mage and just...how?!!?)
HOWEVER, once that's all out of the way, Ember would quickly jump on board with the whole thing - that is, if Neve is game, too! (I think Neve would have her own spiral about all this lol but she does seem to like children and is good with them??)
It'd be a lot of trial and error. A lot of support from the companions and friends and the people of Dock Town (it takes a village, ya know?) There's a lot of shuffling schedules, taking "parenting shifts", wearing one of those baby-backpacks to the catacombs and sketchy alleys and places you probably shouldn't bring an infant lol. But eventually Ember and Neve would find their stride and I think they'd do their damn best to be good parents.
That kid is also going to be SUCH a menace. And you know Ember and Neve will be taking them on all their adventures because these two sure as hell ain't retiring! Instead, think of it more like Rick & Evie O'Connell's dynamic with their kid in The Mummy Returns 😂
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Lol so all this began because I saw a cute post and fucked around with picrew. Now I'm very attached to Auntie Neve and Ember and their chaotic bunch of apprentices in post-Veilguard Dock Town 😭 Thanks a lot, Tumblr! (affectionate)
And if you made it this far, thanks for listening to me yap about Ember & Neverook! 🥰
I'll tag @dudewheresmynug @themildmahariel @amellderiva @in-the-drowning-deep @davrinsleftpectoral @mythals-whore @master-of-the-elements @mildlyupsetzebra @fenrelmercar @rookamell @casa-dei-corvei @litchigaming @thatgaymerguyb @maagisterpavus @hedwigoprah @larkinna @therivercrow @seaglassmelody -- tho honestly IDK if you headcanon your OC & their love interest having any kids or wards / apprentices / kid-adjacent relationships (and if not, that's totally cool, too!!)
But if you do and you're inspired to share - pleeeease tag me in your post so I can read the lore!!!
Seriously please yap about your OCs. I love that shit 🤩
